Growth in the transportation business and, in particular, the airline industry has resulted in the increased use of central reservation host computers for managing flights, scheduling, and fare information on a real-time request basis. In past systems, the host computer response to customer requests has employed a method and architecture of accessing available inventory of flights stored on a central reservation database and categorizing them by a numerical driven scheme. Examples of such prior methods and architectures include systems such as American Airlines, Inc., SABRE, EDS', System One, Covia, World Span, and other similar reservation systems. While these prior systems have been effective in prioritizing available inventory flight segments by such factors as class and seating availability the prior systems fail to prioritize available inventory flight segments by the current market value of the inventory flight segment.
Nor can prior systems determine the correct market value by using the customer itinerary as can the present invention.
Additionally, present systems fail to adjust the value of an inventory element by increasing fare prices when demand is high or decreasing prices when demand is low.
The current market value is determined by the present demand and supply as well as the forecasted future demand and supply of the inventory element. Consideration of the current market value allows the resource provider to maximize revenues by determining the current demand, current average market value, and current available supply for a given inventory element.
Thus, the present invention, a method and architecture that accesses existing central database systems and prioritizes inventory elements by the current market value is a decided advantage over prior systems.